Prince Rupert athletes brought home 12 of the 35 medals won by its zone in the BC 55+ Games in Coquitlam last week.
The North West zone finished tenth out of 13 zones in the medal standings, claiming five gold, 17 silver and 13 bronze medals. The zone is made up of members from Haida Gwaii, Kitimat, Nass Valley, Prince Rupert and Terrace.
Rupert’s lone gold medal was won by Fred Hutchings in archery. He competed in the 63-69 longbow without sight and fingers event to claim top spot. It was one of three archery medals won by Rupert athletes.
Jim Martin took home the silver in the 55-62 longbow without sight and fingers, and Andy Vandermeer won the silver in the 55-62 compound bow event.
The floor curling group of Margaret Niesh, Selma Standring, Ann Whittles and Sharon Paavola went to the Games with gold on their mind, and while they didn’t achieve that, they still brought back the bronze medal. It was the group’s first medal since winning bronze in the 2012 Games.
Swimmer Dawn Quast brought home five medals in her different events, four bronze and one silver to add to her collection. She won bronze in the women’s 65-69 50m breaststroke, 400m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 25m breaststroke. She won the silver in 800m freestyle.
Zone 10 president Marion Weir, together with her Terrace partner James MacKenzie, won a bronze medal in cribbage.
In whist, the pairing of Heather Basso and Sharon Maguire came home with a bronze.
Steve Weir won bronze in competitive singles badminton in the 55-59 division to round out Rupert’s haul.
Only 18 residents participated in the Games this year, as opposed to 28 from a year ago, partly due to how much later in the year the events were this time around.
Last year, the zone won 52 medals overall, making this year’s haul of 35 a big drop.